The Tire Swing Under The Oak
by SparkyStarZ-13
Summary: What had he done? Inspired by Fall For You by Vesely, John Joseph *Pearlshipping


The Tire Swing Under The Oak

SsZ-13

Inspiration: Fall For You by Vesely, John Joseph. ~ And you guys! ~

--

* * *

She breathed in. Smelling the fresh spring air that surrounded her, as she swung slightly back and forth on the tire swing that she had found at one of the parks near the Pokemon Center. "Hey!" He smiled, as he gave her a little push.

She was a little surprised, but happy when she saw who it was. "Hey, Ash!" She chirped, enjoying the wind that blew in her hair as she swung a little faster.

"Excited about your contest?"

"Of corse! Not long now. Just a few days!"

"You're gonna do great!"

"Maybe…" she said, a little uncertain.

Ash stopped the swing, and pulled it towards him, so that he had her full attention. "What do you mean maybe? You're gonna do great! I know you are!" He chimed, smiling his trademark smile. She smiled back.

"Thanks Ash," she smiled, as she lent over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

He was star-struck for a moment, making her giggle. He shook his head, trying to come back to reality. A goofy smile crossed his face as he stared back at her. A tinge of red shone over his cheeks as he continued to push her higher on the swing.

* * *

"G-get out!" She screamed, her voice as harsh as nails down a blackboard.

"Dawn please! I didn't-" Regret singed through his body. What had he done?

"Shove it, Ash! I heard what you said! Now leave me alone!" He voice echoed through his mind. Was this her talking? Dawn Berliz? The angle, with the perfect soul? …What could he have done that would turn her aura red?

"Please, Dawn…" He begged.

"Shut up! _Leave me alone!_" In last part of her sentence her voice cracked. She was screaming so hard that she was sure she wouldn't be able to talk the next day.

Ash stepped back, teary. He took in what he saw. Dawn, in her favourite pink dress that had been soaked in tears. Her head was hung down, her eyes covered with her blue hair. She was sitting in her contest dress room, her broken brush on the floor. She had snapped it when they were fighting, letting out her frustration. Ash backed away, and walked out with his head pulled to the floor, laving Dawn to sob on her own, thinking of past events…

--

They had just had another fight. Over something stupid, as usual.

"_C'mon, calm down guys! Dawn, it's almost your turn. You need to keep a straight mind for the final battle!" Brock said, trying to stop the arguing. Ash and Dawn took one more look at each other before storming off in different directions._

_Ash sat next to Brock with a frown turning into his most distinguishing feature. Dawn turned the corner to the stadium, but before she left to her battle her frown softened and turned into guilt as she looked back at Ash, unnoticed by him and Brock._

"_She's so annoying! Sometimes I wish…" Dawn heard the announcer in the background, but clearly heard the rest of Ash's sentence. She gasped, tears instantly filled her eyes and streamed down her face. She gasped again when she noticed Brock looking at her, but her presence still unknown to Ash. She quickly turned and hid behind the corner, bracing herself for the final round of her contest._

"_Don't say that!" Brock scolded._

_--_

Tears continued to stream down the young co-ordinator's cheeks as his words sang through her mind uncontrollably. She even lost her contest because of what he said. She just couldn't concentrate. Especially with him in the audience. And so close to her fifth ribbon too…

"Dawn…" She looked up and found Brock standing in the doorway. His expression said it all. She stalled for a moment, before rushing past him and around the corner, bumping into Ash. She stopped and looked to see who it was, new tears forming as she re-met familiar brown eyes and she started to run past him, but was stopped when her grabbed her arm and pulled her back to him. She opened her eyes again and met his. He was still clueless as to what he had done to make her so upset. She pulled away from his grasp and attempted to escape again, leaving him reaching out for her, pleading for her to come back although he said nothing. He turned back to Brock, who had disapproval written all over his face.

"What?" he defended. "She won't tell me what's wr-"

"Talk to her."

"But she-"

"Go!" Brock _insisted_.

Ash hesitated, but swung back in her direction and ran after her.

He looked all over the place. She was nowhere to found. He looked in every room…twice! Still nowhere. So he decided to look outside.

There she was. Silently swinging on the tire swing he found her on a few days ago.

He walked closer; guilt attacked him when he heard her sniff and sob. He saw tears fall to the green grass below her as she sat on the swing under the shade of the beautiful green oak.

He stood behind her, gently pushing her.

She gasped and shot around to find it was _him_ again. Her eyes were like he had never seen. Red pulsed through them, tears drowned the soul out of them. Really, what had he done?

"Hey…" he said carefully. He didn't hear a response, but he saw her turn her head back to the ground.

"Dawn…talk to me…" No response. "Dawn…is it about the contest? I know you lost, but there will be-" She responded, but not the way he had wanted.

She jumped from the swing and glared back at him. "You're still clueless, aren't you? This has nothing to do with the freaking contest!" she cursed. "This is about you! Don't you get it?"

"What Dawn? Just tell me what I did and I'll fix it!" he pleaded.

"You can't! Unless you can go back in time!"

"Well…I can't do that, but maybe there's something else I can-"

"There's nothing you can do! I heard what you said!"

"What did I-"

He was cut-off when he felt something smack him straight across the side of his face.

"You know exactly what you said! I heard you!" New tears began to fall as she watched him stare clueless at her, covering his cheek in shame. Even he had tears in his eyes by this point.

"I heard you…" she sobbed. "Y-You said…" she hesitated.

"Dawn…"

"You said…that you wished we never met! That I never travelled with you!" She screamed.

Ash went wide-eyed. _That's_ what he did…

--

"She's so annoying! Sometimes I wish we never met!"

_--_

Regret instantly invaded him as he remembered what he said to Brock.

"Dawn I-"

"Save it!"

"Dawn…" he took her arm and pulled her back to get her full attention. "I didn't mean it." She opened her mouth to yell something again, but was cut-off as he shushed her by crushing his lips to hers. Now she was star-struck.

He pulled away grinning and whispered "I promise Dawn, I'm sorry."

She stared at him for a while before pushing him away, turning, and bending to the ground; putting her head in her arms.

He bent down next to her. "Please Dawn. I would never actually mean something like that, and you know it." He smiled gently at her, though she didn't see, she still had her head in her arms. "I love you too much to ever mean it…"

She looked up at him slightly, staring at him, to see if what he said was true. She came to a conclusion. She threw her arms around him howling apologies.

"Shh…" He whispered, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her closer, swaying her gently for comfort.

He heard her say something as she cried into his neck. Making him smile as he kissed her on the forehead.

"That's better," Brock sighed.


End file.
